ABSTRACT
From the time of Florence Nightingale there has been nursing informatics. Nightingale used data to support her theories and beliefs regarding the impact of cleanliness on health and outcomes. In fact, some reference her as the first nurse informaticist, a views supported by Wikipedia, which describes Nightingale as a statistician. 1 Now, more than 100 years later, we have the tools at our disposal to truly use the data of health and healthcare to drive clinical outcomes, define best practices, support the use of 58technology and practice, and more fully understand health and wellness in society today and in the future.
